I would appreciate any tips people might have in terms of reviewing vocabulary to talk about passionate romance versus erotic romance. Are there any buzz words in reviewing that indicate one or the other? Things you would say about one that would be wrong with another? RT uses HOT to indicate the average romance, and something else for erotic but I don't just mean the labels but the content of a review, most of which ae longer than RT reviews.
When I write reviews, I just don't want to mislead people but also I don't get caught up in so many circles that I treat a reader like an idiot (probably readers with a lot more experience with the steamier lines than me) or bore them to death with my convoluted language. Presents, Desire, Blaze versus Spice and erotic romance --- how do you make the distinction without resorting to overly analytical or erotic speech oneself? Any ideas would be much appreciated, with references to blogs and more formal reviews. Normally I don't read for the steam level so it is not a concern but after reading Olivia Gates' Desire and hae a a pile of Blazes and a vampire erotic romance book I bought to read sometime this year, it now is..
I mean this as a general question but also in specific context to Olivia Gates' new Desire (a more formal review in the blog before this). Her romance is not erotic but the emotions are passionate and powerful. It's not erotic but it is very sensuous with incredible descriptions of the human body as it breathes and is. Obviously the author's medical background gives unique insights into the human body, even though the details there are not medical.
I am sure there are no fixed answers but I would appreciate other people's thoughts. What clues you in as a person reading a review? What level of body talk is appropriate for reviews (not the books or writing guidelines for authors but reviews of the books) of Presents, Desire, Blaze, Spice/erotic romance. Help!
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Awesome topic.
I am no help, but I would be interested in what everyone else has to say on this subject. (Especially HockeyJock.)
Angel
"I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." Nora Roberts
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Thanks! I hope some folks
Thanks! I hope some folks will answer. I wouldn't mind hearing from some authors either, esp. those who write for Desire, Presents, and Blaze... what can a reviewer say or not say to indicate a high level of passion in a book in these lines that is not an automatic buzz word that would lead someone to categorize something as erotic romance when it isn't?
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Merri ....
many of the Challenge bloggers from last year use a "Sensuality Rating" ... this is a rating that Wayne from the Dream Team outlined and then a few of us together ironed out in one of the Challenge discussions .... for the Quiet Canadians, we fined tuned it a bit further for this year
Book Review Ratings ... I think the ratings are pretty self explanatory
on my reviews, I make my ratings a link, so that if anyone wants to know what the ratings mean, they click on it and it takes them to the Book Review Ratings
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
steam level vocabulary
Katherine, thanks, I will look at his discussion. I am trying to think about how to integrate those ratings into prose, not just a tag, especially into formal reviews I write where those stam level ratings don't seem natural like they do in blogs. I guess my first question is that in one sense, Harlequin lines are known for ther most part so I don't want to treat the reader as stupid by going on excessively about it. As an experienced reader, I would not have to tell you what to expect in a Blaze, A Desire etc so if I did, you'd probably wonder what was going on and think I was weird. For you, it might only be good to mention if there was something unusual or out of the ordinary.
My biggest concern was making sure I used proper vocabulary for my reviews. Her book is not erotic but it is FULL of passion but it is not erotic. There is a difference between sensuality and sensuousness and graphic sexual details. For me in general, I think I tend more towards emotional books and sensuous books but I want to make sue I don't mislead in my vocabulary. Some people use spice and steamy to indicate erotic romance. Are there an other words one might not want to use in a passionate but not erotic romance? I guess it goes without sdaying that this is not the place for detailing a list of words inappropriate to use in a public place because I am talking about book review vocabulary ---book reviews which are placed in a public place so I would not consider using those words in the first place...
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Sensuality Ratings ....
Merri ... when rating sensuality it's always a good thing to start with a standard ... something you can use as your comparison ... and then you elaborate from there
most review sites use these standards ... Romantic Times, All About Romance being just two ...
it's your review, so use words that you are comfortable with .... it also depends on how much you want to say ... I usually just make a very brief comment and leave it at that, unless there is content that some may find too explicit
the Sensuality Ratings that the QCs are using, from the rating Sensual and up, the reader is there in the lovemaking scene ...
you may wish to read more reviews on official review sites and get a feel for how others express this aspect of the books they review ... though I think you'll find most reviewers use a one word rating and rarely go into further detail
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
This is a topic I have been
This is a topic I have been wondering more and more about. I can find a book, HOT when the reader is left outside the bedroom door. It all has to do with build up of tension and passion, but there may be nothing explicit in it.
I can find another book that has very explicit descriptions and drags the reader right into the bedroom and it does nothing for me. So, although the language and descriptions might put close to that 'inferno' level -- I'm just not there.
So what is a reviewer to do with this?
Nancy
Nancy ...
um, what you just said is very good actually .... so say that
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Katherine,T,
Katherine,T, thanks...combustible is a good word to keep in mind. I guess I will have to look at reviews of erotic romance. RT ones are just too short and mostly plot summaries for my purposes on this subject so I will look at some other places I know. Nancy, I do agree...some romances can be hot without much sexual detail and some with tons of graphic details are rather clinical or boring.
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
RE: PASSIONATE ROMANCE vs. EROTIC ROMANCE
My comments will probably be a big "let down" to those that think since I'm a Bloke, I like to read "hot & heavy" language. Not necessarily so. I've yet to "describe" any sexual acts in a review, for the readers of my reviews can figure out from the "shaded language" what it refers to. I have spent some time on this question attempting to figure where I am on this issue. Perhaps if I was 25 & still in the Marine Corps (Semper Fi!), I'd be a Blaze kind of Bloke (not that I'd read Blazes at 25 but I'd certainly 'write' me own just by the life I've lived). Now that I'm 46, though, I've me own children (and I pray they'll be responsible men), I KNOW what goes on behind closed doors -- I've DONE what goes on behind closed doors. Most of us here at eHarlequin are adult so we KNOW what (consenting) adults do -- I do not find it necessary to "see" it , blow-by-blow (no pun intended), in print. I'm one of those wierd Mates that blushes and laughs at cinema that INFERS sexual acts as opposed to "showing everything". Thank you, Sheandeen, for your fantastic definition!
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